[h1]Super Meat Boy meets Metroidvania[/h1]
Bad Pad is an interesting take on the Metroidvania genre, focused on putting the player through gauntlets of platforming challenges with a clear Super Meat Boy influence, combined with elements of Metroidvania like an open-interconnected world, unlocking new abilities, and permanent upgrades.
If you are not familiar with Super Meat Boy it is a pretty tough game so if you are not good at 2D platformers or do not welcome significant challenge in your games, Bad Pad is one you should probably avoid. However, for platforming veterans and those who embrace a challenge, you may find this one fun and rewarding as I did. Also note, the game does include difficulty settings of Easy/Normal/Hard. I only played on Normal, which to be fair, is probably not quite as tough as Super Meat Boy, but definitely puts your platforming skills to the test. With the availability of an Easy mode, this would be a good option for those who don't want as steep a challenge.
Overall, positives in my opinion:
+ Tight controls (and similar feel to Super Meat Boy) that give the player the expected results when you press a button. This is important for a demanding platformer, so that you always have the tools to overcome the obstacles. It's just a matter of getting it right and precision play. Another comparison in the MV genre would be that if feels similarly smooth to Ori but not quite as floaty and with fewer movement mechanics.
+ Well-tuned difficulty progression. The challenge gradually escalates in a way that feels tough but ultimately fair IMO. Though it is certainly demanding, the more I played, the better I did, and each challenge was surmountable with a reasonable rate of escalation. (Note: I would describe myself as a veteran at platformers though--the game expects this of the player, so if you are not in this category, you will likely find this game more frustrating than it's worth, at least on Normal mode).
+ Big game world. You cover a lot of ground, moving quickly through the game's big areas, but there are a lot of them. It took me about 12 hours to complete it, but that's 12 hours of intense white-knuckle platforming, so it's a dense experience. This game time was also with essentially no backtracking, unlike a lot of other MVs (for better or worse).
+ Variety, mini-games, and unique boss battles. Maybe some won't like this, but I thought it was generally pretty cool. There are a bunch of mini-games that mix up the gameplay, including throw-back arcade games and boss-battles that change core mechanics. Some bosses can be a bit tough but others are more on the easy side. The toughest parts of the game however, focus more on the core platforming.
Some negatives:
- Voice acting and music are rather questionable. The devs were going for humor with exaggerated slap-stick voice acting, and some may appreciate it, but I found it more on the grating and annoying side. The dev is also clearly a fan of head-banger music which is incorporated throughout, also with a comedic aim, but I wasn't really a fan. Thankfully the music tracks only play during cutscenes or (oddly) when looking at the map.
- Limited reason to explore and back-track. There are some optional/missable upgrades to find and collectible coins, which you can go back to find them all and unlock a bonus upgrade (I did not do this personally), but in general there is not a good reason to revisit old areas. Some MV's handle this well, others can miss the mark, but usually it's a more pronounced element than in Bad Pad. With a lack of a comprehensive fast travel system and a game world packed with challenging platforming, the rewards of going back just aren't a strong enough incentive to want to go back and explore more.
[b]Final thoughts:[/b] As a veteran player of platformers, I really enjoyed Bad Pad. It offers a big world full of tough-but-fair platforming challenge that for me at least, was occasionally frustrating but ultimately rewarding. The Metroidvania elements are somewhat light, but enough is there to put an interesting spin on Super Meat Boy-style platforming.
UPDATE: It appears there is a new update that has added a true fast travel system which becomes available after beating the game. I will also note that the developer is very responsive to feedback!
